383 won't start. It cranks, I have spark & fuel - could it be the battery

Plugs got wet with gas, and spark was too weak.
When starting a carb engine with old gas especially when it's cold, you need a bunch of gas squirted in before cranking.
Then wait up to 2 minutes for some gas to vaporize..then crank.
The problem with many vehicles is that the throttle cable or carb are not coordinated so that full wide open throttle unloads the choke. As important as a choke is, it's equally important that you can open the choke while cranking, to clear out excess gas, and stop "flooding it" if it's not firing.
Anything you can do to warm the block up will help...
Modern gas does not vaporize well.
Once you get it going, have a good look at a few plugs... Clean plugs will fire avoid engine much better than fouled plugs.